Commentary: It's been a Fab fifty since the Beatles introduced themselves on Ed Sullivan'

Ed Sullivan, center, stands with The Beatles, from left, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, during a rehearsal for the British group's first American appearance, on the "The Ed Sullivan Show" in New York. The Beatles made their first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show," America's must-see weekly variety show, on Sunday, Feb. 9, 1964. And officially kicked off Beatlemania.

Editor’s note: Chris Lambert is, along with being a music fan, the author of the blog Comics: Don’t Get Me Started, which is part of The News-Herald’s Community Media Lab.

In a recent television series titled “Inside the Sixties — The British Invasion,” producer Tom Hanks said, “Listening to the Beatles on ‘Ed Sullivan’ perform ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ was like watching the future.”

And that future started a half a century ago on Feb. 9, 1964, a Sunday night when most people tuned in to “The Ed Sullivan Show,” but usually not 73 million people, which at the time was a huge chunk of the population in the country.

What have we learned since that fateful night that featured four very, young men (John Lennon and Ringo Starr were still 23, Paul McCartney was 21, while the youngest, George Harrison, was still not even 21 yet.) who called themselves The Beatles?

We learned how fast a nation still mourning the death of a beloved president from just 10 weeks earlier, could fall in love with a national (albeit a charming, talented one) diversion.

Advertisement

Because of the fun and the charisma of the group — as opposed to the snarling, dangerous persona of Elvis — we learned how quickly even our grandmothers could rattle off “John, Paul, George and Ringo.”

Because of the group’s moptop appearance, grooming products and ad men showed us what the “dry look” was all about.

The music industry learned groups could play instruments and sing at the same time, keeping everything self-contained. Rolling Stones guitar player Keith Richards stated as much during the same aforementioned TV special.

Because the Beatles wrote their own music, the music industry found out that young aspiring groups and singers did not have to go begging to Tin Pan Alley to get their hit songs written by some guy hunched over his piano all day as he waited for the muse to hit him.

As hysterical fan appreciation exploded, producers found out how quickly stadiums could replace smaller venues. And as the money rolled in, including the wads of export money to Mother England, English royalty learned how quickly they’d be opening their ranks to these young men as in early 1965, The Beatles received their Members of the British Empire awards at Buckingham Palace. (Lennon remarked, “I thought you had to drive tanks and win wars to get these things.”) McCartney, later was even knighted and became “Sir” Paul.

The country was introduced to Eastern music influences as Harrison played the sitar on the song “Norwegian Wood.” The same oldtimers who were putting down this “rock ’n’ roll” music earlier now learned to appreciate the form, deeming the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album a masterpiece and the second side of the “Abbey Road” album “almost operatic.”

Long before pop star Bono was engaged in peace talks with world leaders, Lennon did the same thing, although in a more flamboyant fashion as he sang “Give Peace a Chance” from his Toronto hotel bed as the prime minister of Canada sat close by.

Also in bringing the world together a little bit, on June 25, 1967, The Beatles were included on the first worldwide satellite broadcast, representing England by performing ”All You Need Is Love.”

The Beatles can also be connected to big rock charity events such as Live Aid, Band Aid, Farm Aid and the “We Are the World” recording. Some of the folks responsible for those fine undertakings siad they called Harrison early on because he’d created The Concert for Bangladesh along with pal Ravi Shankar.

So it seems like the world has learned a lot from these four lads.

Much of the information contained in this article I learned from either living through the experience or reading books on the subject such as “Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation” by Philip Norman and “Magical Mystery Tours,” among others.

But the best way to understand all the hoopla concerning the band over the last century is to listen to their records, because yeah, yeah, yeah, the Beatles made great, great music.